Dei'ah veDibur: Kinderlach "One-Third of Israel's Population"

There have been some other indications lately that the demographic picture in Israel is not as bleak as usually portrayed:

Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) figures show that at the end of 2005 there were 2,326,400 children (ages 0-17) living in Israel: 1,608,300 Jewish children, 643,000 Arab children and more than 70,000 "other" children from immigrant families whose religion is not listed in the population registry.

Like in 2004, children constitute one-third of the total population. In most of the Western world the percentage of children is considerably smaller, whereas in many Arab countries children constitute half of the population.

In 2005 there were 143,900 babies born, of which 51.4 percent were boys. 100,700 were born to Jewish mothers, 34,200 to Muslim mothers, 4,000 to mothers whose religion is not listed, 2,500 to Druse mothers and 2,500 to Christian mothers.

The highest child-adult ratio of any municipality is in Beitar Illit, where children constitute 63 percent of the population. In Modi'in Illit and Elad as well, the percentage of children is approaching the 60 percent mark. Similar figures were recorded in Bedouin towns in the South, such as Tel Sheva, Rahat and Kasifa.

As in past years Jerusalem has the largest child population in absolute numbers, with 291,700 children representing 40.5 percent of city residents. Tel Aviv-Jaffa is second with 75,400 children, but there they represent a mere 20 percent of the overall population — the lowest child-adult ratio of any urban center in Israel. In Givatayim, Bat Yam and Ramat Gan as well, the ratio hovers around the 20 percent mark.

In contrast Bnei Brak's 67,500 children constitute 47 percent of the population. In Modi'in-Maccabim and Re'ut, both of which have a large concentration of (non-chareidi) young couples, the portion of children is 43 percent and 41 percent respectively.

Of the 574,468 children enrolled in Jewish sector primary schools in 5765, 25 percent studied at chareidi schools (up from 21.9 percent in 5763) compared to 56 percent at government schools (down from 59 percent in 5763) and 18.9 percent at government-religious schools (down from 19.1 percent in 5763).

Tags: kinderlach, children, Israel, demographics, Jews